Drudgery Beckons: PL Games for 17th - 19th January 2026

[Mike Oxsaw]

Saturday, 17 January 2026 12:30
Manchester United v Manchester City
Venue: Old Trafford
League Positions: 6 v 2
Current Forms: 12 v 33

The clash of the northern monsters monkeys. Home advantage and (yet another) new boss bounce will bring the expected benefits to the Great Expectakers, but City seem to have found their scoring boots in the FA Cup. Remind me again, please,  who Manchester United have in the 4^th round...

Prediction: Away Win

---

Saturday, 17 January 2026 15:00
Chelsea v Brentford
Venue: Stamford Bridge
League Positions: 8 v 5
Current Forms: 15 v 41

Chelsea's FA Cup demolition of mighty Charlton will have been tempered by their home loss to Arsenal in their 1^st League cup  semi-final. Fulham are unbeaten in their last 5 (and are no longer even remote candidates to challenge us for a highly coveted relegation spot). That being said, Chelsea last won a league game 5 rounds (yes, I know already. If someone can come up with a better noun, collective or otherwise for a group of 10 league games, let me know) ago. Home advantage rules though, in this game.

Prediction: Home Win

---

Saturday, 17 January 2026 15:00
Leeds United v Fulham
Venue: Elland Road
League Positions: 16 v 9
Current Forms: 21 v 35

Fulham are the most "in form" side, Leeds are the most "At Home" side in this game. That fence was clearly refurbished over FA Cup weekend, and I'm on it.

Prediction: Draw

---

Saturday, 17 January 2026 15:00
Liverpool v Burnley
Venue: Anfield
League Positions: 4 v 19
Current Forms: 27 v 20

15 of Burnley's "current form points" come from their 5-1 demolition of Millwall (who? Never heard of them!) last week. Liverpool though, seem to, single handed, be redefining "Blowing hot & cold". I believe that home advantaged abetted by a slight form tail-wind will be the decider.

Prediction: Home Win

---

Saturday, 17 January 2026 15:00
Sunderland v Crystal Palace
Venue: Stadium of Light
League Positions: 10 v 13
Current Forms: 21 v 6

My how we laughed at Palace crashing out of the cup at their first attempt at defending it. Got just over £52 on that game alone which bought me 3 cases (36 pints) of Singha beer out here in Thailand, which I naturally shared with the 2 Man Utd. fans I regularly drink with. This match? Oh! If I must. Sunderland all day long.

Prediction: Home Win

---

Saturday, 17 January 2026 15:00
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
League Positions: 14 v 18
Current Forms: 8 v 17

15 of our current form points also come from our FA Cup game last weekend. As for our form in the league? I'd rather not go there. But, as they say, "Needs must", so here we go: Every team we play from now on - especially this lot - will have their fixture with us circled in "3 point red ink" in their calendar. No Lanzini to rescue a point for us this time round, and surely even Tottenham cannot be that "spursy" to not come away from this with all 3 points. Ladies & Gentlemen. It is with deep regret and a heavy heart that I am forced to predict:

Prediction: Home Win

---

Saturday, 17 January 2026 17:30
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
Venue: City Ground
League Positions: 17 v 1
Current Forms: 12 v 39

Talk about "Lucky, lucky Arsenal"! Their recent run of games must feel like manna from heaven. I strongly suspect that they'll feast again on foraged Forest food.

Prediction: Away Win

---

Sunday, 18 January 2026 14:00
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Newcastle United
Venue: Molineux
League Positions: 20 v 7
Current Forms: 30 v 30

Boy! Oh boy! Do Newcastle need (NEED) this fixture. Half of both team form points come from cup wins, so neither have a league form they can sing about from the mountains. Wolves cup win, though, was against pretty ropey neighbours of theirs, whilst the Bar-codes won a penalty sudden death against fellow PL side Bournemouth. Probably going to go only one way, this one:

Prediction: Away Win

---

Sunday, 18 January 2026 16:30
Aston Villa v Everton
Venue: Villa Park
League Positions: 3 v 12
Current Forms: 31 v 11

Sunderland soundly dumped Everton out of the cup; someone was clearly playing the "dick" in their stadium sponsor's name. Talking of stadiums though, this game is at one of the better ones in the League still standing. As for the result? Well, Villa do need to keep in touch with Manchester City from now on, and maintain the gap between themselves and teams sitting 4^th to 10^th below them. I think that this they will do.

Prediction: Home Win

---

Monday, 19 January 2026 20:00
Brighton & Hove Albion v A. F. C. Bournemouth
Venue: Falmer Stadium
League Positions: 11 v 15
Current Forms:  v 

South coast shenanigans! Shiver me timbers, matey! Do we care? Well Bournemouth are only (only!!!) 3 places above us in the league, so...No! No! and thrice No! Michael. They've got almost twice the amount of points we have!...Can't see them adding to that total, but, even so, they're still not relegation candidates. Brighton will be pushing (ooh-er, missus) for Europe again next year, so:

Prediction: Home Win

---

Acca? What do you mean acca? Oh, this...

Arsenal (Away @ Nottingham Forest 1/2)
Liverpool (@ Home to Burnley 2/11)
Newcastle United (Away @ Wolverhampton Wanderers 7/10)
Aston Villa (@ Home to Everton 8/13)

Pretty poor odds all around this week.

Total stake: £11.00
Potential returns: £31.52

[Manuel]

Dalot's yellow earlier on should have been a red. Would have been if he was wearing most other team's shirts. If it was Wan Bissaka, he's walking for that no questions.

I've seen a lot worse, but yea agree it was a red. He didn't go in at much pace as was near to the player, so maybe that saved him, plus it was early, not that it should matter of course.

[fraser]

TNTs obsession with Lucy Ward is beyond belief.

Blimey the irony... 

[twoleftfeet]

TNTs obsession with Lucy Ward is beyond belief.

[El Scorchio]

Also, you just know Arsenal are going to manage to draw or lose this.....

[El Scorchio]

Dalot's yellow earlier on should have been a red. Would have been if he was wearing most other team's shirts. If it was Wan Bissaka, he's walking for that no questions.

[Fauxstralian]

Man City with 3 pts from 12 have handed it to Arsenal 
Need Arsenal to smash Forest instead of their usual choke 

[nychammer]

Have we ever had new manager bounce? 

No we get new manager plunge because Sullivan shops in poundland for managers.

[Ron Eff]

Millwall 3 points off the automatics. It couldn’t be more predictable could it?

[Mike Oxsaw]

Have we ever had new manager bounce? 

We'll get ours when Sullivan finds an unemployed dead cat to manage the team.

[the coming of gary]

Looks bleak for us, doesn't it.

I cant even be bothered with my annual 'Palace in Sunderland ' joke
.

[twoleftfeet]

Have we ever had new manager bounce? 

[Leonard Hatred]

Man United very impressive in this game 

[Electric Retro-pants]

Let's see if I can do a worse job of predicting than last time.
Man U v Man C - A
Chelsea v Brentford - H
Leeds v Fulham - D
Liverpool v Burnley - H
Sunderland v Palace - H
Spurs v West Ham - H (please no, the grief from the inlaws...)
Forest v Arsenal - A
Wolves v Newcastle - D
Villa v Everton - D
Brighton v Bournemouth - H

[Massive Attack]

Not a bad start to the weekend for me with a cheeky 2 squid bet on girona, boro winning and pisa drawing although touch and go right at the end for a ton. Start as I mean to go on and West Ham smash Spurzzz..

[Mex Martillo]

Manchester United v Manchester City: agree Away Win
Chelsea v Brentford: agree Home Win
Leeds United v Fulham: Away win
Liverpool v Burnley: agree Home Win
Sunderland v Crystal Palace: Draw
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United: Away Win
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal: agree Away Win
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Newcastle United: agree Away Win
Aston Villa v Everton: agree Home Win
Brighton & Hove Albion v A. F. Bournemouth: Draw
 
Thanks Mike

[Mad Ferret]

I very much expect Forest to lose. Just cannot see us winning, sadly.

[Manuel]

Manchester United v Manchester City: Away
Chelsea v Brentford: Home
Leeds v Fulham: Draw
Liverpool v Burnley: Home
Sunderland v Palace : Away
Tottenham v West Ham: Home 
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal: Away
Wolves v Newcastle: Draw
Aston Villa v Everton: Home
Brighton v Bournemouth: Home

Wouldn't it be nice (as the beach boys said) and uplifting, if we win and Forest lose, hardly outlandish, but sadly unlikely to pan out that way.

[Mad Ferret]

Manchester United v Manchester City: Away
Chelsea v Brentford: Home
Leeds v Fulham: Draw
Liverpool v Burnley: Home
Sunderland v Palace : Away
Tottenham v West Ham: Home 
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal: Away
Wolves v Newcastle: Draw
Aston Villa v Everton: Home
Brighton v Bournemouth: Home

[Monsieur merde de cheval]

Saturday, 17 January 2026 12:30
Manchester United v Manchester City
Venue: Old Trafford
League Positions: 6 v 2
Current Forms: 12 v 33

The clash of the northern monsters monkeys. Home advantage and (yet another) new boss bounce will bring the expected benefits to the Great Expectakers, but City seem to have found their scoring boots in the FA Cup. Remind me again, please,  who Manchester United have in the 4^th round...

Prediction: Away Win

---

Saturday, 17 January 2026 15:00
Chelsea v Brentford
Venue: Stamford Bridge
League Positions: 8 v 5
Current Forms: 15 v 41

Chelsea's FA Cup demolition of mighty Charlton will have been tempered by their home loss to Arsenal in their 1^st League cup  semi-final. Fulham are unbeaten in their last 5 (and are no longer even remote candidates to challenge us for a highly coveted relegation spot). That being said, Chelsea last won a league game 5 rounds (yes, I know already. If someone can come up with a better noun, collective or otherwise for a group of 10 league games, let me know) ago. Home advantage rules though, in this game.

Prediction: Home Win

---

Saturday, 17 January 2026 15:00
Leeds United v Fulham
Venue: Elland Road
League Positions: 16 v 9
Current Forms: 21 v 35

Fulham are the most "in form" side, Leeds are the most "At Home" side in this game. That fence was clearly refurbished over FA Cup weekend, and I'm on it.

Prediction: Draw

---

Saturday, 17 January 2026 15:00
Liverpool v Burnley
Venue: Anfield
League Positions: 4 v 19
Current Forms: 27 v 20

15 of Burnley's "current form points" come from their 5-1 demolition of Millwall (who? Never heard of them!) last week. Liverpool though, seem to, single handed, be redefining "Blowing hot & cold". I believe that home advantaged abetted by a slight form tail-wind will be the decider.

Prediction: Home Win

---

Saturday, 17 January 2026 15:00
Sunderland v Crystal Palace
Venue: Stadium of Light
League Positions: 10 v 13
Current Forms: 21 v 6

My how we laughed at Palace crashing out of the cup at their first attempt at defending it. Got just over £52 on that game alone which bought me 3 cases (36 pints) of Singha beer out here in Thailand, which I naturally shared with the 2 Man Utd. fans I regularly drink with. This match? Oh! If I must. Sunderland all day long.

Prediction: Home Win

---

Saturday, 17 January 2026 15:00
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
League Positions: 14 v 18
Current Forms: 8 v 17

15 of our current form points also come from our FA Cup game last weekend. As for our form in the league? I'd rather not go there. But, as they say, "Needs must", so here we go: Every team we play from now on - especially this lot - will have their fixture with us circled in "3 point red ink" in their calendar. No Lanzini to rescue a point for us this time round, and surely even Tottenham cannot be that "spursy" to not come away from this with all 3 points. Ladies & Gentlemen. It is with deep regret and a heavy heart that I am forced to predict:

Prediction: Home Win

---

Saturday, 17 January 2026 17:30
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
Venue: City Ground
League Positions: 17 v 1
Current Forms: 12 v 39

Talk about "Lucky, lucky Arsenal"! Their recent run of games must feel like manna from heaven. I strongly suspect that they'll feast again on foraged Forest food.

Prediction: Away Win

---

Sunday, 18 January 2026 14:00
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Newcastle United
Venue: Molineux
League Positions: 20 v 7
Current Forms: 30 v 30

Boy! Oh boy! Do Newcastle need (NEED) this fixture. Half of both team form points come from cup wins, so neither have a league form they can sing about from the mountains. Wolves cup win, though, was against pretty ropey neighbours of theirs, whilst the Bar-codes won a penalty sudden death against fellow PL side Bournemouth. Probably going to go only one way, this one:

Prediction: Away Win

---

Sunday, 18 January 2026 16:30
Aston Villa v Everton
Venue: Villa Park
League Positions: 3 v 12
Current Forms: 31 v 11

Sunderland soundly dumped Everton out of the cup; someone was clearly playing the "dick" in their stadium sponsor's name. Talking of stadiums though, this game is at one of the better ones in the League still standing. As for the result? Well, Villa do need to keep in touch with Manchester City from now on, and maintain the gap between themselves and teams sitting 4^th to 10^th below them. I think that this they will do.

Prediction: Home Win

---

Monday, 19 January 2026 20:00
Brighton & Hove Albion v A. F. C. Bournemouth
Venue: Falmer Stadium
League Positions: 11 v 15
Current Forms:  v 

South coast shenanigans! Shiver me timbers, matey! Do we care? Well Bournemouth are only (only!!!) 3 places above us in the league, so...No! No! and thrice No! Michael. They've got almost twice the amount of points we have!...Can't see them adding to that total, but, even so, they're still not relegation candidates. Brighton will be pushing (ooh-er, missus) for Europe again next year, so:

Prediction: Home Win

---

Acca? What do you mean acca? Oh, this...

Arsenal (Away @ Nottingham Forest 1/2)
Liverpool (@ Home to Burnley 2/11)
Newcastle United (Away @ Wolverhampton Wanderers 7/10)
Aston Villa (@ Home to Everton 8/13)

Pretty poor odds all around this week.

Total stake: £11.00
Potential returns: £31.52

Appreciate the effort Oxsaw son..

[Monsieur merde de cheval]

Man U v Man C -away win
Chelsea v Brentford - away win
Leeds v Fulham - home win
Liverpool v Burnley - home win
Sunderland v Palace - home win
Spurs v West Ham - home win
Forest v Arsenal - draw
Wolves v Newcastle - home win
Villa v Everton - home win
Brighton v Bournemouth - draw.

If Forest under Dyche get any form of result against the brothers then we are truly fucked

[Westham67]

Man U v Man C -Away
Chelsea v Brentford - Away
Leeds v Fulham - Draw
Liverpool v Burnley - Home
Sunderland v Palace - Draw
Spurs v West Ham - Away, Spurs have a lot of injuries, and we have Tatty and Pablo
Forest v Arsenal - Away
Wolves v Newcastle - Draw
Villa v Everton - Ho,e
Brighton v Bournemouth - Home

[honky cat]

Man U v Man C -away
Chelsea v Brentford - draw
Leeds v Fulham - away
Liverpool v Burnley - draw
Sunderland v Palace - home
Spurs v West Ham - away
Forest v Arsenal - away
Wolves v Newcastle - away
Villa v Everton - home
Brighton v Bournemouth - draw

[cheesebgt]

Man U v Man C -away 
Chelsea v Brentford - home
Leeds v Fulham - home
Liverpool v Burnley - home
Sunderland v Palace - home
Spurs v West Ham - draw
Forest v Arsenal - away
Wolves v Newcastle - away
Villa v Everton - home
Brighton v Bournemouth - away

[twoleftfeet]

Man U v Man C -away win
Chelsea v Brentford - away win
Leeds v Fulham - home win
Liverpool v Burnley - home win
Sunderland v Palace - home win
Spurs v West Ham - home win
Forest v Arsenal - draw
Wolves v Newcastle - home win
Villa v Everton - home win
Brighton v Bournemouth - draw.

Forest vs Arsenal - draw

[Sweep]

Man U v Man C -away win
Chelsea v Brentford - away win
Leeds v Fulham - home win
Liverpool v Burnley - home win
Sunderland v Palace - home win
Spurs v West Ham - home win
Forest v Arsenal - draw
Wolves v Newcastle - home win
Villa v Everton - home win
Brighton v Bournemouth - draw.